peters



, 2 sheets-sheen. J. B. EADS. Loading Ordnance.

Patented Dec-'3. 1867.

@nitrh tetra 'jzhatrnt @ffirr.

JAMES BJEADS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. Letters Patent No. 71,592, datedDecemher 3, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOADING ORDNANGE.

an fidgrhult rtftrrtb In in llgttt Ettttrts 35mm amt mating part attheme.

To ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES B. EADS, of the city and county of St. Louis,and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement inLoading and Operating Ordnance; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and clear description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon. i

The object of this invention is to raise and place in the bore of thegun heavy shot by mechanical means, without the assistance of muchmanual labor. The invention relates to certain devices for producing theresult,

which said devices consist of a platform, on which a bed is fitted forthe shot, the platform being so arranged and combined with a.steam-cylinder or cylinders as to be elevated or depressed by the simpleapplication to or withdrawal of steam therefrom. There may be twocylinders used, one placed on either side of the carriage, and directlybelow the trunnions, with thepiston-rods extending forward in ahorizontal plane, and attached to the lower ends of the vertical arms oftwo'bent levers, one of which is placed on either side of the piece,with its fulcrum bearing about in the same horizontal plane as thetrunnions, and its horizontal arm extending forward as far as themuzzle, where it is attached to the aforesaid shot-platform. Then,'asthe said vertical arms are worked forward or backward by means of thesteam applied to pistons within the cylinders, it follows that theforward ends of the horizontal arms of the said levers, and with themthe shot-platform and the shot itself, will be with ease elevated tosuch a plane that it may easily be rolled into the muzzleof the piece.Of course, one cylinder might be placed beneath the piece, and madeto'subserve the purpose of two, by coupling its pistonrod with bothlevers.

Another device, and the one which will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, consists of a series of telescopic cylinders, with their axesin a. vertical or nearly vertical plane,oand" placed directly beneaththe shot-platform. As steam is introduced into these cylinders they areraised up, one out. of another, until the shot-platform is of the properheight to roll the ball into the piece. By having the shot-platformhinged at its back end or side to the top of the upper .cylinder of theseries, and a guardconnected therewith, so as to extend under the gun,then, when the platform shall have been raised so as to cause the saidguard to come in contact with the gun, and a little more steam isapplied, the front end of the platform will be raised up, while the saidguard and hinge hold the back end ofit down on a level with the bore ofthe gun, thus tipping the platform, so as to allow the shot to roll oifinto the piece as soon as a spring-catch (which has hitherto retained iton the platform) is released.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my improved carriageand shot lifter, I will proceed to describe its construction andoperation. I

Figure 1, of the drawings, is a side elevation of a piece of'heavyordnance, its carriage, and shot=lifte1h Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

Figure 3 is a front end elevation.

Figure 4 is a vertical central sectional elevation of the shot lifter.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of a part of the shot-lifter, showingthe shot-platform in its inclined posi= tion, as it appears the momentbefore the shot is rolled into the gun.

Figure 6 is a plan of the shot-platform, showing the spring-catch usedfor retaining the shot on the plat= form, and the device for operatingthesame. p

The carriage A, that supports the gun B and the slides or chases C, maybe of any of the most approved patterns now in use, or hereafter madeapplicable to the operating of heavy ordnance, and hence these partsneed no minute description. The shot-lifter consists of a series oftelescopic cylinders, D D D 1), arranged to slide one within the other,and a shoteplatform, E, afiixed to the top of the inner or smallercylinder. The cylinders D D D D are fitted together steam-tight, andotherwise arranged, so that when steam is admitted into the interior ofthem, they will rise up, one out of the ether, telescope-wise, and thuslift the shot to the required position. The lower cylinder D is to beopen at the top and closed at the bottom, and all of the others, ofwhich there may be two or three, (more or less,) will be open at thebottom and closed-at the top. Steam is to be admitted to the cylindersfrom the valve-chest d, through the pipe 01 by simply moving the lever01 to one side, and shut 01? by the reverse operation. The same resultmight easily be arrived at by the use of one .cylinder, closed at bothends, and having three or four piston rods working through as manystuffing-boxes in the cylinder-head, the said piston-rods carrying ontheir upper ends the shot-platform E. The shot-platform E consists of alower or bed-piece, e, securely afiixed to the top of the cylinder D anda movable piece, E, hinged to the bed-piece at m. A curved guard-piecefeis securely aflixed to the movable piece e in such a position as tocatch under the muzzle of the gun when the platform is raised up, as isclearly shown in figs. 1 and 5. As soon as the said guard-piece becomescaught against the gun, it will cause the piece a to tip up around thepoint at, as is clearly shown in 5, thus inclining the top surface ofthe platform toward the piece,

and thereby facilitating the rolling of the ball into the bore of thepiece. A spring-catch, c, in the interior of the platform-piece 6, maybe withdrawn by means of the hand-ring e and rod e, from the stop orchock-piece e, at the proper moment to let the said chock-piece fall orslide down, and the ball to roll over it. The red lines in fig. 4; showthe shotlifter raised up, while the full-line drawings represent it inits contracted position. The cylinder D may be connected with thechassis part of the gun-carriage by means of the stay-rods F.

The description hereinbcfore given of a shot-lifter, as combined with agun-carriage, relates to certain means for accomplishing the desiredresult. Of course the same object may be accomplished by various otherarrangements of machinery, either operated by hand or by steam-power.For instance, a vertical rack, supporting the shot-platform, may beraised or lowered by a cogged pinion placed on a shaft actuated by handor by steam-power, applied at any convenient part of the carriage.

Having described my invention, what I claim is-- I 1. Che combination ofa gun-carriage, A C, with a shot-lifter, composed of one or moresteam-cylinders and a shot-platform, E, the whole to be operated andemployed in the manner shown and described.

2. I also claim the shot-platform when composed of a fixed bed-piece, E,and a hinged or tipping piece, E, for the purpose of disengaging theshot from the platform inthe manner shown and described.

JAS. B. EADS.

Witnesses:

BARRETT WILLIAMS, Tnoms J. BURRIDGE.

